Dredging Operation to Remove Sediment on the Upstream Edge of Copco Dam

On August 5th, 2023 I sent this email to Public Information Officer at KRRC asking for information before just putting pictures up WITHOUT the information..

Below is reader submitted photos sent to Siskiyou News August 4th, 2023

The crane is setup at Mallard Cove…

and that’s where that platform raft with the excavator was assembled…

Public FB Post: August 7th, 2023

Will Harling

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I believe this is part of the dredging operation to remove sediment on the upstream edge of Copco 1 dam before the lower drain tunnel is completed and drawdown begins January 1, 2023. The dredged sediment will be discharged into a vertical tube with curtains down to the bottom of the reservoir to minimize turbidity. The drain hole they are making through the bottom of Copco 1 is impressive. 10 feet diameter horizontal tube through 160 feet of concrete reinforced with railroad tracks.

So if we sit around trolling facebook you will eventually see a post made on the 10th by Klamath River Renewal Corporation. On the 12th I discover a post about the very thing you were asking about! So here is the post from KRRC which I read about on the Yurok Tribes news feed.

Siskiyou News

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=613101834304181&set=a.431162312498135

Anyone who has visited the Copco Reservoir recently may have noticed two large vessels on the water. These are barges that will be used to prepare the upstream side of Copco No. 1 for drawdown. Barge 1 is currently moored at Mallard Cove, and Barge 2 is moored just upstream of Copco No. 1. These barges carry dredging equipment, which will be used to clear sediment that has built up behind the dam. This sediment needs to be cleared before initiating drawdown of the reservoir this coming January.

In the coming weeks, KRRC’s construction contractor will position Barge 1 and its suction dredge at the upstream face of Copco No. 1 dam. Sediment that has been deposited against the dam will be sucked up, and a slurry mixture of water and sediment will be pumped through a flexible pipe to Barge 2, approximately a half mile upstream from the dam. The slurry will be discharged at Barge 2, where it will settle inside a turbidity curtain that is suspended around that barge and extends to the bottom of the reservoir. This curtain will decrease turbidity during dredging activities, keeping the sediment from spreading throughout the reservoir.

Below is an image of Barge 2 moored upstream of Copco No. 1. The yellow stripe circling the barge is the top of the turbidity curtain.

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